Fry hard: It turns out McDonald's fries have more than three times as many ingredients in the US than the UK

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Emma Haslett

There are 14 ingredients in the US version of McDonald's fries, including one used in Silly Putty (Source: Getty)

McDonald's has released the recipe to its fries - and it turns out UK chip-lovers are getting a vastly different item to their US counterparts.

For the UK's version of the McDonald's fry - 337 calories for a medium-sized box - diners are treated to a heady mix of potatoes, two kinds of vegetable oil, dextrose and salt.

In the US, customers (whose medium box of fries comes in a 340 calories) are hit with a veritable cornucopia of flavours, including three kinds of oil, beef flavouring and something called Dimethylpolysiloxane, which is also an ingredient in Silly Putty. Yum.

Those with a milk or wheat allergy in the US can forget about eating the chain's fries in their own country, although if they pay a visit to the UK, they can chow down on Maccer D's chips all they want.

In the UK, McDonald's has worked hard to improve its unhealthy reputation. Having introduced salads as a menu option, in 2007 it switched to organic milk, and subsequent marketing campaigns, like the one below, have focused on its locally-sourced, organic ingredients.

But things could soon change in the US, too: today the company is expected to post results showing the first full-year drop in earnings in 13 years. Analysts polled by FactSet reckon the chain will report earnings per share of $4.94, down from $5.55 in 2013. Investors definitely won't be lovin' that.